Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. May I say how delighted I am to be back in Japan and how grateful to all of you for organising this reception.
The last such occasion was in 1982. Since then you have been in the forefront of a remarkable growth of British activity in Japan. [end p1]
Over that period British companies in Tokyo and the membership of the British Chamber have increased by 50 per cent. British exports also tell a story—up from £681 million for the whole of 1982 to nearly £1300 million for the first seven months of this year—that is nearly a four-fold increase in seven years. I congratulate all of you on that. [end p2]
I would say that we have four main objectives in our policy towards Japan.
The first is to develop a much closer co-ordination with Japan on world issues. This is a very exciting time in world affairs with democracy on the move. Britain and Japan needed to work closely together to sustain this great momentum and the new hope which goes with it. [end p3]
The second is to open markets. We have made real progress in our bilateral trade with Japan, but problems remain and I shall be discussing these while I am here, not in a confrontational way but with a steady determination to see that the benefits of free trade are genuinely two-way. [end p4]
The third is to take advantage of the export opportunities which Japan now offers. The Opportunity Japan Campaign is going very well and Japan could soon be our ninth or tenth largest export market. We also want to see a continued expansion of our presence in Japan's financial markets.
The fourth is to increase our knowledge of each [end p5] other and in this the cultural festivals—the British festival in Japan in 1990 and the Japanese festival in Britain in 1991—will play a big part. I am determined that both of them should be a great success, and hope they will get full support from the business community.
You—our British community in Japan—are [end p6] making a tremendous contribution to all these aims. We are very grateful for everything you do and for the way in which you represent all that is best in Britain. I wish you every success for the future.